Chennai, April 30: Veteran filmmaker K Balachander on Friday became the first filmmaker from Tamil Nadu to receive the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, which was presented by the Indian government for his contribution to Indian cinema. The 80 year old filmmaker said he considered the award as a recognition for his pathbreaking films and his role in introducing several popular artistes in the film industry.
Hailed as Iyakkunar Sigaram (pinnacle among directors), Balachander is revered as the filmmaker who launched a renaissance in the film industry in the 1960s through social dramas that were against orthodoxy. Originally a playwright, he directed 101 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi, including classics like Ek Duje Ke Liye, Server Sundaram, Major Chandrakanth, Aval Oru Thodargathai, Ninaithaale Inikkum and Sindhu Bhairavi. He has been presented the National Award seven times and got the Padma Shri in 1987. He was invited by the government to be in the Dadasaheb Phalke Award panel in 2000.
“I did not see this honour coming, but when I got it, I wondered if I deserved it. I then thought that introducing and mentoring filmmakers and actors, including Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth, apart from directing pathbreaking films were the factors that worked in my favour.”
–Agencies